Comic books are in a weird place in popular culture these days. While readership is growing and comics have been really coming into their own over the past decade as an art form, it feels like a lot of people view them as more of an idea factory for bigger and more profitable art forms such as movies.
While I don’t think viewing comics as a testing ground for movies and tv shows is a terrible idea, I prefer to side with creators such as the architect of the graphic novel Will Eisner and the magic space wizard of comics Alan Moore in saying that comics are their own form of artistic expression and deserve to be treated with respect and attention that deserves.
Here’s a book that I think accomplishes that wonderfully: “Step by Bloody Step” #1
Written by Si SpurrierCover by: Matias Bergara
Illustrated by Matias Bergara
Colored by Matheus Lopes
An armored giant and a helpless child. Together they cross an astonishing world brimming with beasts, bandits, and-deadliest by far-civilizations… If they stop walking, the earth itself forces them onwards. WHY? The child can’t ask. She and her guardian have no language, no memory, nothing-except each other.Multiple-Eisner nominees SI SPURRIER (X-Men), MATIAS BERGARA (Coda), and MATHEUS LOPES (Supergirl) present a watershed moment in modern comics: four double-length chapters of a bittersweet fantasy opus, completely text free.
Let’s take a walk.
Across the uncivilized wilderness of an alien world, a giant of black metal roams the land with a little girl cupped in its armored hand. Their existence is a mystery, their purpose is unknown, and their future is uncertain in a land of monsters. While the girl seems to have some strange connection to the land, she is content to live her life in childlike wonder and blissful ignorance, while the giant is determined to protect the child at all costs from the creatures of the wilderness…and two nameless figures who seem to hint at a much larger intrigue.
“Step by Bloody Step” #1 is a mostly silent comic and what little dialogue there is comes from a strange language that we cannot understand. For many readers it would be logical to assume that the writer’s job takes a back seat with projects like this, but long time comic book scribe Si Spurrier proves this is not the case, and manages to craft an amazing story. Spurrier understands that the core of the story is the relationship between the two main characters and he delivers a character dynamic that is equal parts charming and realistic. The metal giant and little girl have a relationship that is similar to a parent and a very young child, with the giant acting in an extremely protective manner and the child acting like a curious kid who doesn’t understand just how unsafe the world is just yet. But there’s more to it than just love and protection. Spurrier understands that parents and their kids also have their rocky patches and there are several heartbreaking moments in the story where the giant forces the confused and very angry child away from the potential love and comfort of a village of other humans and back into a world of crushing isolation and loneliness.
With such great character dynamics any sort of broader story could easily be considered an afterthought, but Spurrier introduces a pair of stern looking individuals who appear to be hunting the main characters for unknown reasons. There are enough hints at a much larger narrative looming over the two main characters that it creates an interesting mystery that does a great job of encouraging interest in future issues and thanks to great character development, allows the comic to tug at the reader’s heartstrings and hope everything turns out alright.
Due to the near wordless nature of “Step by Bloody Step” #1 it falls to the artwork to deliver the emotional core of the story and artist Matias Bergara delivers in spades. Bergara’s characters have realistic proportions and anatomy coupled with simple, cartoon-like faces which allow the characters to be relatable but incredibly expressive and emotive. This is a huge help for Spurrier’s story and makes it very easy for the reader to guess and understand what the characters are thinking. However, while Bergara’s characters are great it’s the setting and world building that is the highlight of the issue. Bergara’s artwork combines with colors by Matheus Lopes to create a world that is visually unique and absolutely stunning. Weird rock formations and plant life create a strange alien world that looks like it was a lot of fun to draw, while the black and ominous monsters demonstrate that while this place is beautiful, it’s also incredibly dangerous. It’s a fantastic showcase of visual worldbuilding and a stunning piece of narrative art.
Continued belowWhile “Step by Bloody Step” #1 is a beautiful book with well written characters and a great story, there are some small but noticeable mechanical problems. While most of the pages are well laid out and easy to follow, there are a handful that include a large number of very tiny panels that create a sort of collage of emotion and action. Whether this artistic choice stems from Spurrier writing out the layouts in the script or Bergara’s artistic style is unknown, but it can make the story a bit difficult to follow at times. However, the rest of the book is perfectly clear and easy to understand, so this is a pretty trivial problem in the grand scheme of things. It’s also worth mentioning that the technological limitations of reading this book on a computer screen one page at a time did limit the enjoyment of the book, and once I re-read it as a physical copy it became much clearer.
“Step by Bloody Step” #1 is a well written and absolutely gorgeous demonstration of just how fascinating and original comic books can be, and that sequential narrative artwork doesn’t need pages of dialogue or bombastic special effects and film scores to grab and hold an audience’s attention and interest.
Final Verdict: 9.1- While the book requires a bit of patience from its readers, if you take the time to concentrate you’ll find characters that are fascinating and heartwarming with an intriguing story and breathtaking artwork.
